Clarification: N.Y. Mandates CPR Equipment For Ops
In case you, like many New Yorkers, didn't know, the Empire State now requires restaurants to have certain resuscitation equipment available to the public. As part of a regulatory clarification of a law passed in 2001, the state now requires businesses with "patron-accessible areas" to have Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation gear, not just instructions, available.

The American Red Cross has teamed up with long-time partner First Aid Only, Vancouver, Wash., to produce a CPR kit that meets the new requirement. The kit contains four resuscitation face shields that can be used with both adults and children; gloves; sanitary wipes and a disposable bag; and basic CPR instructions in English and Spanish.

Available from the Red Cross for $24.95, the "CPR Station" is being supported by the New York State Restaurant Association and the New York State Department of Health. To locate your local American Red Cross chapter, go to www.redcross.org.

Big Upheaval For Iowa Inspections
When tight budgets meet big responsibilities, something's got to give. In Iowa, several somethings recently had to give.

In July, cash-strapped Jasper County and Polk County both had to turn over inspection duties for a combined total of about 2,500 foodservice locations to the state's Department of Inspections and Appeals.

Which already had been strained to bursting. The DIA's nine inspectors have been responsible for visiting 2,700 facilities in 20 of the state's counties. With state law requiring a minimum of two inspections per year per location, and certain high-volume locations requiring more, the nine-person team has been averaging 5,400 inspections per year, according to DIA Director Steven Young.

So what gives? The DIA last month officially announced it can no longer meet the legal requirement for twice-annual inspections. State DIA inspectors will perform 5,200 annual inspections per year, Young said, until resources or legal requirements change.

For five out of the last six years, the DIA has pushed for increased funding.

West Virginians Mixed On Smoking Bans; North Dakotans Clear The Air Almost Completely
Businesses in Wheeling, W.Va., are still battling the local health department over a smoking ban that went into effect in June. The Ohio County Tavern and Restaurant Association has filed a petition with the city of Wheeling to hold a special election, perhaps this fall. The vote, according to city clerk Janice Jones, will cost more than $50,000 since 420 city employees will have to take a day off to administer it. And even a vote against the ban may not decide the issue in smokers' favor. Courts in other areas have supported local health departments' authority to impose smoking bans.

Just down the road, the Mid-Ohio Valley Board of Health recently approved its own smoking ban, affecting businesses in Calhoun, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties. Assuming this ban isn't challenged, it will take effect October 1.

North Dakota, meanwhile, cleared its air almost entirely with the passage of a state law banning smoking in all public places except bars. The new law took effect August 1. It supersedes any less stringent local anti-smoking regs and allows localities to establish stricter rules.

B.C. Becoming First Province To Rate/Inspect/Measure Hospital Food Heads-up for healthcare foodservice providers in British Columbia: You're going to be put under a microscope.

B.C.'s Provincial Health Services Authority has posted a request for proposal for consulting assistance in three areas: food service satisfaction surveys, safe food handling audits and nutritional adequacy and analysis.

The province will be the first in Canada to conduct standardized measurements of foodservice quality, safety and satisfaction. The program will impact about 160 hospitals and long-term care facilities, according to a spokesperson for the Provincial Health Services Authority.

The three-pronged audits are expected to take place annually, starting as early as January 2006. Results will be open to the public, posted to each of the six Health Authority Web sites in B.C.

The new standards will be complimentary to current foodservice monitoring done by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. Current safe food handling standards will not change.